Many years ago, I was looking for a subcontractor to do a huge job, and had zeroed on one man and called him to the site for an interview. He came two hours late, and by the time he came, I gave the contract to another.

“It’s my bad luck!” said the contractor as he walked away.

“It’s not your bad luck!” I shouted exasperatedly, “It’s your indiscipline!”

I remember another acquaintance of mine years ago, who decided to sit for the radio officer’s exam conducted by the government, and after the exam we met at his home where he lived with his parents: “How was it son?” asked the old mother as she greeted her son on his return.

“The stupid fellow behind me sneezed!” said her son.

“So?” I asked.

“I couldn’t concentrate!” he said.

“Bad luck!” whispered his mother to me, shaking her head at the ceiling as the son nodded.

How easily bad luck was blamed on his inability to focus on the task at hand.

In the 1920s, Ernest Hemingway learned something about "bad luck" and

getting kicked by life. He was struggling to make his mark as an author when disaster struck. He lost a suitcase containing all his manuscripts -- many stories he'd polished to jewel-like perfection -- which he'd been planning to publish in a book.

According to Denis Waitley in his book Empires of the Mind (William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1995), the devastated Hemingway couldn't conceive of redoing his work. All those months of arduous writing were simply wasted.

He lamented his predicament to friend and poet Ezra Pound who called it a stroke of good fortune! Pound assured Hemingway that when he rewrote the stories, he would forget the weak parts; only the best material would reappear. He encouraged the aspiring author to start over with a sense of optimism and confidence. Hemingway did rewrite the stories and eventually became a major figure in American literature.

That’s what we all need to learn: You have to win despite all the negative factors can bring out better performance!

Don't pray for fewer problems; pray for more skills.

Don't ask for smaller challenges; ask for greater wisdom.

Don't look for an easy way out; look for the best possible outcome.

When life gives you a kick, let it kick you forward..!

And here’s something to make you smile:

A woman was being rushed to hospital but couldn’t make it to the delivery room and started giving birth to a baby in the elevator of the hospital. When she complained about the location, a nurse said, "Why, this isn't so bad; last year a woman delivered her baby out on the front lawn."

"Yes," said the woman with a grin, "that was me too, looks like my luck is improving!”

After you’ve laughed, here’s something for you today; let’s make our luck improve by not believing in luck anymore..!

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